Eloping in Canada?

[TinRoses]

Here's a bit of back story;

My "husband" and I have been engaged for 4 years this past New Years Eve. We've been together for 5 and had a close friendship for 4 before that. So a long term relationship. I was the type of girl who had decided marriage wasn't for me. At all. I'd always be married to my horses and not worry about prince charming because I was certain he didn't exist after a series of very bad, including abusive, relationships. He was damned persistent and I love him with all my heart. He puts up with my quirks oh so well, and sometimes I really don't know how he does it.

Well... Now I want it all. Right now money's tight so a super duper expensive wedding with all the bells and whistles just isn't going to happen. It may in the future, but it isn't right now. And that's ok. We've considered ourselves husband and wife minus the paperwork for awhile and we know logistics are a huge issue. I'm an American. He's a Canadian. We travel... A lot and I'm planning to move up there as opposed to him down here.

I'm going up in May... And honestly I think eloping now and having a bigger event later is a serious idea. I just can't seem to find out what the laws are surrounding marriages that aren't Canadian to Canadian up there. I've heard of couples eloping in the states that were from different countries -- but what do we have to do up there? Does anyone know? Any clues? Legal expertise? We have all the plane tickets, e-mails, and clothing being left behind sillies to prove we're not doing this for a green card or citizenship. It's honest to goodness love. And those are A LOT of plane tickets and passport stamps etc. I've always been VERY honest when going through customs and have never had an issue going through customs at all. ever. Except for being questioned about my affiliation with Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (proud to be a Sea Shepherd).

What are our options? I do plan on going home in May and taking the steps necessary, but I really would like to take the next step necessary to bring our family together.

Some more specific questions are:

1.) What is needed to obtain a marriage certificate or license between an American citizen and a Canadian citizen?

2.) Will our marriage be accepted and recognized by both countries?

3.) Afterward what would be our next step in me going to Canada on a permanent basis?

 

[deepiv]

why dont you guys apply as COMMON LAW.....

 

[TinRoses]

What all would be involved in that?

 

[Material]

What all would be involved in that?

Are u planning on getting married soon or are you not looking into that now the reason why Im asking this because if you want to get married than you would have to wait untill u do and your husband would sponsor u under th spousal catagory.If you are not ready to get married than you would apply under the Common law catagory.

It doesnt matter where you get married , it has to be leagal in whatever country you get married in thats all

 

[cleo]

My husband and I eloped in December. All he needed was to show his passport and say that he's not married now. You go to an office where they give out marriage licenses. Here in BC it's usually through an insurance agency. You can just google an office for whatever province and city you want to get married in. They give you the license right away and then you have to arrange for a marriage commissioner to marry you. Again, just google 'getting married in ...(whatever province)" and there will be a government site of all the rules. It's pretty simple.

We did all that ourselves but then we hired an elopement planner to take care of the details for the ceremony. Sure, it was an elopement, but she made it really special for us and took care of the photographer, flowers, wedding sight, and suggestions for writing our own vows, etc. Make sure you get photos!

Personally, I think it's easier to apply if you are legally married and not common law.

 

[uccemebug]

Some more specific questions are:

1.) What is needed to obtain a marriage certificate or license between an American citizen and a Canadian citizen?

2.) Will our marriage be accepted and recognized by both countries?

3.) Afterward what would be our next step in me going to Canada on a permanent basis?

1. As others have pointed out, just get a marriage license in either location.

2. Yes. There is no mechanism for registering an out of provice marriage in a Canadian province.

3. You do as we've all done and submit an "outland" permanent residence application with you as the applicant and your husband as the sponsor. You can find the process badly documented here:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/spouse-apply-how.asp

The kit you want to follow is the second of the two listed, under "Application to Sponsor a Member of the Family Class.":

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp

 

[quakingaspen]

uccemebug is right. My husband and I eloped in August. I (the applicant - an American citizen) just took our passports to city hall with the marriage license application and paid the fees. Then we found a local officiant who came to our home to provide our ceremony. Really simple! The marriage is legal and recognized by both countries. And, as uccemebug said, just submit an "outland" spousal application.

Remember to include lots of relationship proof, and take pictures at your elopement to include in your application. The immigration officers will want to know why you had such a small wedding. I just said that we weren't interested in all the expense and fuss of a wedding... that we were looking to have a marriage instead of a wedding. I also explained that my parents were planning to have a family dinner for us at a later point in time, when we can get down there.

We just got our approval yesterday after a 4 month processing time.

 

[uccemebug]

uccemebug is right. My husband and I eloped in August. I (the applicant - an American citizen) just took our passports to city hall with the marriage license application and paid the fees. Then we found a local officiant who came to our home to provide our ceremony. Really simple! The marriage is legal and recognized by both countries. And, as uccemebug said, just submit an "outland" spousal application.

Remember to include lots of relationship proof, and take pictures at your elopement to include in your application. The immigration officers will want to know why you had such a small wedding. I just said that we weren't interested in all the expense and fuss of a wedding... that we were looking to have a marriage instead of a wedding. I also explained that my parents were planning to have a family dinner for us at a later point in time, when we can get down there.

We just got our approval yesterday after a 4 month processing time.

Congratulations!!

Yes, the forms ask for all kinds of proof of how the relationship formed and who attended what formal ceremony. Elope, but do your application a favour (to say nothing of doing your families a favour) and host some sort of party afterward with both familes in attendance. Or separately, as the case requires. Remember that the bureaucrats are paid to look for marriages of convenience and an elopement (my wife and I had our ceremony alone on a beach in Thailand) might look a lot like something hidden from the families because it's being done for money/convenience/politics/etc. ;^)

 

[rjessome]

I believe this OP needs legal advice. They state an affiliation with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Depending upon your perspective (right or left wing on this issue) some consider them eco-terrorists. They've had a few clashes with the Canadian government in the past several years, especially over the seal hunt. I don't want to cause any alarm as all might be completely fine, however, this affiliation needs to be investigated further and a legal opinion sought.

 

[Kaycee1]

I believe this OP needs legal advice. They state an affiliation with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Depending upon your perspective (right or left wing on this issue) some consider them eco-terrorists. They've had a few clashes with the Canadian government in the past several years, especially over the seal hunt. I don't want to cause any alarm as all might be completely fine, however, this affiliation needs to be investigated further and a legal opinion sought.

Is this on the right thread???

 

[kelKel]

Is this on the right thread???

Yes the OP is a proud member of the Sea Shepard's as she states in her original post.

 

[uccemebug]

Yes the OP is a proud member of the Sea Shepard's as she states in her original post.

It's an interesting point. The forms ask you to state clearly your group affiliations. A quick google search didn't turn up anything on this issue, but it's worth a phone call into the CIC call centre by the sponsor, I'd say. Better find out sooner than later.

 

[tulamoon]

Congratulations!!

Yes, the forms ask for all kinds of proof of how the relationship formed and who attended what formal ceremony. Elope, but do your application a favour (to say nothing of doing your families a favour) and host some sort of party afterward with both familes in attendance. Or separately, as the case requires. Remember that the bureaucrats are paid to look for marriages of convenience and an elopement (my wife and I had our ceremony alone on a beach in Thailand) might look a lot like something hidden from the families because it's being done for money/convenience/politics/etc. ;^)

Yep. My husband and I had an elopement as well, it all cost about 200 bucks for the license and commissioner, we had my mother and my best friend as witnesses and was all done in about 20 minutes. I explained on the application that we just wanted to start our life together properly as a married couple and we didn't want a big ceremony, but that we were planning to celebrate with friends and family on the anniversary of our engagement in June when he is done with school for the year. Our relationship is genuine, so even IF they think we're suspicious for having the teeny wedding, we've got other proof to back up the fact that we're madly in love with eachother.

 

[rjessome]

It's an interesting point. The forms ask you to state clearly your group affiliations. A quick google search didn't turn up anything on this issue, but it's worth a phone call into the CIC call centre by the sponsor, I'd say. Better find out sooner than later.

There are some news stories:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2008/04/05/charges-ship.html

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2011/04/sea-shepherd-whale-wars-confessions-of-an-eco-terrorist.html

There are many more on both sides of the issue. Now I am NOT saying I agree or disagree with their mandate. I am just saying it is something the OP needs to look into. A phone call to a Call Centre clerk will NOT suffice. They need REAL legal advice.

 

[justina]

My husband and I eloped a year and a half ago. We are in Alberta, so we got the marriage license at a registry. I think I showed my driver's license and he showed his birth certificate. We found a marriage commissioner on the internet, he came to our home and married us with a couple of witnesses. We invited some friends to a restaurant afterwards.

I have never ever wanted a big wedding, even told my mom that as a teenager! I did have to promise my husband that we would one day have a church wedding in his country ( I think I have convinced him it won't be too big) and promised my parents that we would hold a one-year anniversary party so my mom could invite friends. We had the party, mom got to invite her friends, and everyone is happy. Not sure when the church wedding will happen, maybe a 5 year anniversary sort of thing!

I don't think you could apply as common law, unless you have physically shared a residence for a year or more.

As well, a number of years ago my two German roommates eloped in BC. No issues with both being foreigners visiting Canada.